Australian girl, 4, thrown from bridge

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A four-year-old Australian girl died on Thursday after she was thrown off a bridge in Melbourne and landed in the Yarra River, 58 meters (174 feet) below, police said. A man stopped his 4WD car on the West Gate Bridge during peak hour, stepped out of the car carrying the girl and dropped her over the edge, a police spokesman told local media.

"The child suffered fairly extensive injuries and the paramedics spent some time trying to resuscitate the child," said ambulance spokesman Paul Bentley.

The girl's 35-year-old father was arrested just an hour later outside Melbourne's Federal Court, which hears family case matters, with two other children in his car, police said.

The father was charged with murder.

(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by )